Floor construction



Oct. 31, 1933. J. SHRYQCK 1,933,394

FLOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 1, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F 4 Fig.5 U

\NVEMTOE Joseph G. 5hr och,

Oct. 31, 1933. J SHRYQCK FLOOR CONSTRUCTION ZSheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 1. 1931 I mvamoak I Joseph Shr'qock,

Patented Oct. 31, 1933 FLOOR CONSTRUCTION Joseph G, Shryock, Philadelphia, Pa", assignor .to Belmont Iron Works, Philadelphia, Pa., 3

corporation of Pennsylvania Assumes August 1,193. Serial No. 554,531

s cram. (c1. lgaiuj ,My invention relates to'building construction, more particularly the construction involving a metal frame or skeleton which is subsequently encased'in walls, partitions, floors and roof. The

5 object of my invention is to provide an improved "floor construction for buildings of this type, which may be laid in any bay as soon as the beams and/or girders are inplace and anchored to thecolumns.

My improved floor construction involves a 'main base or support o'f-metal completely cover- 'ing the entire area or space of the bays and available for use for all purposes during erection of the building'framee'work. It thus takes "the place of preliminary flooring of wood, usually employed before a final floor is constructed; with the distinct advantage that my' improved floor is absolutely fire-proof. I V

' My'improfved floor constructiommay be developed and employed' in unit sections, or a plurahty of units may be assembled in a fabricating'shop before placement, The units maybe connected together into sections of any suitable orf'convenient sizebefore'erection, or such units may be connected on the job. Such connection V, ay be in the form" of rivetsbolts, spot welding, jorwelded'joints. i 1

My improved floor structure may be made of standard structural shapes, or special rolled shapes as; conditions may suggest'or require. It

possesses great structural stifiness with minimum defiection. In addition it'provides great horizont'al stiffness and resistance to wind strains.

' 'My improved floor structure maybe readily in- 5'sulated against heat or cold, and completely sound-proofed. It is capable of "directly supporting anjabsolutelyJfire-proof ceiling or'a ceiling of the fire-resisting type. Its construction and arrangement provide for the reception of all 40formsjofsteam and/or hot water'pip'ing; electric conduits, and in addition it is admirably adapted for'the' reception of sleepers upon which floors of wood or composition may be laid.

My improved floor structure comprises stand- =5 ard ,structural elements such as light channel beams and/or the so-called junior beams laid' in such relation that the beveledfaces of the channel or beam flanges may be and preferably "are indirect contact with each other and provide especially stiff longitudinal rib members. In

the use of channel members, this condition is eifected by employing the alternate channel members trough condition, and inverting the intermediate channel members thereon. As nota ed, the abutting flanges may be welded, riveted,

*0: cutting. i channel'members or beams may be apertured as 0 They may be fabricated in sections in'the shop and taken to the point of erection for immediate use, or the desired con-, nection,'of whatever nature employed, may be effectedon the job. They maybe left'unconnected at 'suitable'points for expansion and contraction during erection of a buildingyand finally or bolted together.

connected together before the final floor is laid.

or the joint between adjacent flanges may include suitable interposed members serving as expansion elements; In all instances, such floor supporting member's'may be delivered in panel length for immediate use without thenecessity In all instances, the webs of the desired for thepassage ofsteam and/or hot waterpipesor mains.

'A furtherfeature of my invention-resides in the fact that my improved floor members may be developed in exact'mathematical' dimensions .75

and serve to maintain'the frame-work inabso- 'luteiy accurate shape in longitudinal and transverse directions. When the final floor is laid,

which-may be of any 'character'desired; concrete of any type, gypsum, asphalt, terra-cotta, woodyand/or the like, the supporting "elements comprising my improved floor; construction may be finally anchored to the girders and/or beams.

Preliminary to such final work,'the floor-members simply require temporary fastenings that will keep them in posit'iontofully cover the area ofthebays.-

My improved floor structure thus provides all of the features of any preliminary flooring necessary when constructing buildings of extreme size and/or height; doing away with the usual temporary floors of wood, and avoiding entirely the fire risk attendant upon the use of' fioors'of such use as a bridge floor or support upon which concrete, asphalt, or similar road material maybe placed. v

' These and other features of my invention are morefully described-hereinafter; reference being had to the accompanying. drawings, in which: r s 1 Figured is a plan viewsofav single; bay of a structural metal building; showing the elements of my improved floor construction in'place.

Fig, 2 'is a sectional view on the line I--I,

Fi I. Y I

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 11-11, Fig. 2.

Figs. 4 and 5 are end views illustrating modified fioor structures within the scope of my invention.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the floor structure illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a similar view illustrating a modification within the scope of my invention.

Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11, are perspective views, similar to Figs. 6 and 7, illustrating further details within the scope of my invention, and

Fig. 12 is a sectional view illustrating a detail of my invention.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings I have shown a plan view of a single bay of a steel framed building; The columns at the corners of such bay are indicated at 1 between which'extend the major girders or beams indicated at 2 and 2, and junior beams, shown as extending between the girders 2, are indicated at 3.

, Extending between the girders 2 and overlying the junior beams I have provided a metal fioorving made up of flanged elements, preferably channel members, indicated at 5. These channel members may be of any standard type and of light construction, or they may be of special construction. They comprise webs 5 and flanges 5 the flanges being of usual type with beveled inner surfaces joined to the webs by fillets and of material thickness at the corners. The outer walls of the flanges are at right angles to the plane of the webs and externally they present lying the web of the first section;. the beveled surfaces of the respective flanges lying in contact and so on--each alternate channel member having its web upon the beams and the intermediate channel members having the webs uppermost.

Thecontacting flanges may be secured together in any approved manner as by welding, as indicated at 6 in Fig. 8; riveting as indicated at 7 in Fig. 9, or by bolting. If desired, with a view of providing for expansion and contraction during construction, suitable bodies of elastic or resilient material 8 may be interposed between the meeting flanges as indicated in Fig. 12.

The channel members making up my improved floor construction may be connected in sections comprising a plurality thereof and fabricated in the shop; being permanently joined together for assembly and connection with other similar sections on the job, or such channels may be laidv singly and joined in any approved manner on the job. The channel members may be of various dimensions as may be necessary for special strength and rigidity, and the floor structure so be associated together as shown in Fig. 7; the

wide channels being shown at 55 and the narrow channels at 55 the latter being arranged with their webs lying upon the beams.

By reason of the close association of the flanges and their permanent connection, the whole assembly presents a most rigid construction; such joined flanges providing longitudinal ribs of great laidmay receive final floor material of any nature, concrete, terra-cotta, gypsum, bricks, and/or the like. 11 wooden flooring is to be laid, the

hung from such supports.

channels in trough position may receive sleepers upon which such flooring may be placed.

Various arrangements .of these channel members may be employed, some of which are indicated by the perspective views, Fig. 6, et seq.

In some instances, I may employ light beams 9 in developing my improved floor structure, as indicated in Fig. 4, or I may associate channel members 5 with these light beams, as indicated in Fig. 5.

By preference I employ channel members of light weight. They are of standard construction in all instances and while I may employ standard shapes and weights as found on the market, I may employ special sizes and weights; wide and narrow asthe case may be, with flanges of the same contour and dimensions.

When erected on the job the channel or other members may be riveted or bolted to the beams or girders when laid, or temporary fastenings may be employed during construction of the building so that my improved metal flooring serves as a working floor during construction; producing a stiff and rugged non-deflecting support for all purposes and with absolute protection against fire, and permitting free use by workmen in the subsequent and successive building trades during completion of a building, bridge, or the like, without deformation or damage.

The spaces between flanges provide for the placement of steam and/ or hot water piping, electrio wiring and/or cables of all types, and 'form bonds or keys for any plastic body serving as the floor. From the channel members any form of. supports may be suspended which may serve to carry fire-proof or fire-resisting ceilings'fincluding the usual metallic lath which may be Any necessary apertures for pipeor cable connections between floors may be cut through the webs of the channel member .by any form of cutting tool or by flameoxy-'acetylene, electric torches, or 'thelike.

My improved floor construction presents great flexibility of design in that the channel or other sections are always of a length to span the panel and, by the use of channels or other sections of 'difierent widths the space of the panel transversely of the length of thechannels may be completely filled. Any adjustmentdesired. may be efiected and if certain channels require spacing between flanges which would otherwise 'be in contact filler members may beemployedg In the use of my improvedfioor construction,

employing light weight metal members upon which the final or service fioor is supported, the total weight of the floorin any given structure is so greatly reduced as to permit the use of lighter columns and smaller foundations.

It will be understood that my improved floor construction is well adapted for use in constructing the floors of bridges in road and bridge construction; the flooring in such instance receiving and supporting a body of concrete, asphalt,"or any other suitableroad'material.

While I have referred particularly to an improved'floorconstruction available for buildings and bridges, it will be understood that my invention is equally applicable to roof construction. For suchuse I prefer to channel members of extreme width of web since, under usual conditions, a roof is only required to carry anominal load.

I claim:

1. An inherently stable metal floor structure comprising a plurality of standard rolled channel members each composed of a web and flanges normal to said web; said flanges having beveled inner faces and said channel members being arranged in interconnected relation with alternate channel members disposed in reverse position with respect to the directly adjacent members whereby adjacent flanges are brought into direct meeting relation with their beveled surfaces in continuous contact, and means for permanently connecting said contacting flanges with the alternate webs whereby a continuous inherently stable floor panel may be made from said rolled channel members.

2. An inherently stable metal floor structure comprising a plurality of standard rolled channel members each composed of a Web and flanges normal to said web; said flanges having beveled inner faces and said channel members being arranged in interconnected relation with alternate channel members disposed in reverse position with respect to the directly adjacent members whereby adjacent flanges are brought into direct meeting relation with their beveled surfaces in continuous contact, means for permanently connecting said contacting flanges with the alternate webs whereby a continuous inherently stable floor panel may be made from said rolled channel members, and a traffic contacting surface overlying all of said channel members.

3. An inherently stable metal floor structure comprising a plurality of standard rolled channel members each composed of a web and side flanges normal to said web; said flanges having beveled inner faces and said channel members being arranged in interconnected relation with alternate channel members disposed in reverse position with respect to the directly adjacent channel members whereby adjacent flanges are brought into direct meeting relation with their beveled surfaces in continuous contact, and means for permanently connecting said contacting flanges whereby a continuous inherently stable floor panel may be made from said rolled channel members.

4. A me'al floor structure composed of a plurality of standard rolled channel members each comprising a web and side flanges normal to said web; said flanges having beveled inner faces and said channel members being arranged in interconnected relation with the alternate channel members disposed in reverse position with respect to the directly adjacent channel members whereby the said adjacent flanges are brought into meeing re ation with their beveled surfaces in continuous contact, and welded joints connecting the edges of said flanges with the webs of adjacent channel members whereby a continuous floor panel may be made from said channel members.

5. A metal floor structure comprising supporting means, a plurality-of standard rolled channel members each composed of a web and side flanges normal to said web resting upon said supporting means; said flanges having inclined or beveled internal faces and having greater thickness at the zone of engagement with their web than the wall of said web and said channel members being laid with the webs of alternate channels in contact with said supporting means whereby the flanges of adjacent channel members in 21- ternately reversed relationship are brought into meeting relationship with their inclined or beveled surfaces in continuous contact throughout their length, and welded joints connecting the flanges of one member with the webs of the adjacent channel members whereby a continuous floor panel may be made from a plurality of said channel members.

6. A metal floor structure comprising supporting means, a plurality of standard rolled channel members each composed of a web and side flanges normal to said web resting upon said supporting means; said flanges having inclined or beveled internal faces and having greater thickness at the zone of engagement with their web than the wall of said web and said channel members being laid with the webs of alternate channels in contact with said supporting means whereby the flanges of adjacent channel members in alternately reversed relationship are brought into meeting relationship with their inclined or .beveled surfaces in continuous contact throughout their length, welded joints connecting the flanges of one member with the webs of the ad- 'jacent channel members whereby a continuous floor panel may be made from a plurality of said channel members, and a traffic contacting surface overlying all of the members making up such floor panel.

'7. An inherently stable metal floor structure comprising a plurality of standard rolled channeled members each composed of a web and flanges normal to said web; said flanges having beveled inner faces and said channeled members being arranged in interconnected relation whereby adjacent flanges are brought into direct meeting relation with their beveled surfaces in contact, and means for permanently connecting said interconnected and meeting flanges whereby a continuous inherently stable floor panel may be made from said rolled channeled members.

8. An inherently stable metal floor structure comprising a plurality of standard rolled channel members each composed of a web and flanges normal to said web; said flanges having beveled inner faces and said channel members being arranged in interconnected relation with alternate channel members disposed in reverse position with respect to the directly adjacent members whereby adjacent flanges are brought into direct meeting relation with their beveled surfaces in contact, and means for permanently connecting said interconnected and meeting flanges whereby a continuous inherently stable floor panel may be made from said rolled channel members.

JOSEPH G. SHRYOCK. 

